Right wing Nathan Horton scored the winning goal in his season debut, ending the Blue Jackets’ 0-of-19 power-play drought and propelling the team to a 2-0 win over the Phoenix Coyotes last night in front of 10,539 at Jobing.com Arena.

Horton parked his 6-foot-2, 229-pound frame in front of Phoenix goaltender Mike Smith and converted the rebound of a James Wisniewski slap shot for his 199th career goal in his first game as a Blue Jacket.

It ended the power-play drought that had stretched into its fifth game.

“It was a pretty good feeling,” Horton said. “The big thing with me coming back is that I want to come back and I want to win.”

Horton’s goal, his first in the regular season since scoring for Boston on April 8, finished off a strong shift by the team’s top power-play unit and gave the Blue Jackets all they would need at 15:51 of the second period.

R.J. Umberger added insurance with a power-play goal midway through the third period. It was his 113th goal with the Blue Jackets, tying him for second with David Vyborny on the franchise list.

Smith made 29 saves for the Coyotes, who took only 13 shots through the first two periods and could not take advantage of a slew of rebounds off the pads of Blue Jackets goaltender Curtis McElhinney.

McElhinney, who might soon cede the net to a newly healthy Sergei Bobrovsky, had allowed 10 goals in his previous two games but finished with 34 saves and earned his second shutout of the season.

The Jackets had allowed six power-play goals in consecutive losses to Pittsburgh and Colorado, but they killed five penalties against the Coyotes, helping them keep pace in an improving Metropolitan Division.

“We were better on our special teams,” Horton said. “We knew we had to be. We got a couple power-play goals, and hopefully that will get us rolling a little more.

“Those were key situations in the game when we needed to kill a penalty or get a goal on the power play, and we did.”

Horton skated on a line with center Artem Anisimov and left wing Brandon Dubinsky in his first game since Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals on June 24.

He signed seven-year, $37.1 million free-agent contract with the Jackets before undergoing extensive surgery on his left shoulder in July.

Horton maintained an unusually strong attachment to his new team during his recovery. His debut was long-awaited by everyone involved with the organization.

And it went as well as anyone could have hoped.

“He did a lot of good things,” coach Todd Richards said. “I’m excited because I’m expecting more now. It was his first game, and he got his feet wet and got comfortable with the group out on the ice.

“There is still some more systematically in what we have to do, but I thought it was a great start for him.”

Horton, 28, was cleared to play before the current trip this week and had tentatively planned to return later this week or next.

“It was whenever I felt comfortable,” he said. “But my shoulder feels great right now.”

Horton, in his 10th season, won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011. He played 591 regular-season games with Boston and Florida before joining the Jackets.

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